Chapter 254

"We're in a real bind here." Raymond stated point-blank to the Black Scripture's extra seat.

Zesshi sat across from Raymond, the butt of her scythe on the floor, she idly spun it like a child's toy top, whirling the massive blade faster than even his eyes could follow.

"So what?" She asked, "I'm supposed to be your 'secret weapon', you know, 'humanity's trump card' and all that. Are you really prepared to expose me to the public?"

"No. We want you to go in disguise, an anonymous competitor, and win the throne." Raymond leaned forward and slid his hands along the surface of his desk, "I wouldn't ask you for this, but with the Kingdom of Nazarick's pro demi-human stance spreading, we 'need' to counterbalance them. Otherwise?" He let the statement hang.

"I have no interest in ruling a Kingdom, let alone an Empire." Zesshi said point blank, her face turned sour, "Not a chance."

"Would you do it as a favor to me?" He asked, "Please?" He added when she said nothing.

Zesshi's shoulders slumped. And Raymond felt a wave of relief wash over him. The others could not have gotten this far, he was sure of that. Old as she was, Zesshi was barely a teenager in terms of elf years. She was driven more by her desires than anything else, though close on the heel of her emotional wants was her sense of camaraderie with the very few she knew closely. Her friends, which included him, and it was why she listened to him now.

"Fine, but on one condition." Zesshi answered, and Raymond straightened up and fell quiet, focusing all his attention on her.

"You make sure my father attends, I don't care what lies you have to tell or what you have to do, but you do everything in your power to give me this chance." Zesshi demanded, and Raymond immediately answered…

"I'll use every spy at our disposal, and pull every favor I can with the others, but we'll make sure he has every reason and chance to go. If he does though, the rest is up to you." Raymond warned and held out his right hand.

Zesshi took his hand in hers and squeezed it just enough to remind him of her strength, "That will not be a problem, Raymond." She said and got up to her feet. "He'll pay dearly for making me." She added, and left the Cardinal alone.

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Ainz sat on the throne of Nazarick with his guardians arrayed on one knee before him. Behind them knelt Sebas and the Pleiades.

Behind them knelt the 'home grown' team of power-leveled humans once known as Foresight. Behind them knelt the defeated and resurrected team once known as the Imperial Knights.

The only guardian not below was Albedo, who stood at his right hand with her fingers interlaced together at her waist and her bright yellow eyes looking over the arrayed weapons of the Allfather.

"Before we begin," Ainz proclaimed, "I would like to hear your reports. Shalltear, we begin with you."

"Yes, My Lord." She said and rose to her feet, "The Frogmen population is growing again, and we have two settlements established, with room and numbers for two more. Heketi has requested that when the next generation comes of age that some of her younger generation be formally allowed to join the Allfather's army. She says her soldiers will make the finest amphibious soldiers we could ask for."

Ainz chuckled, "I'm sure she's right. Plan for it in the long run."

"Demiurge?" Ainz asked as Shalltear knelt, and Demiurge rose to his feet.

"My Lord, the Dwarves and Quagoa continue to," he cleared his throat, "find more evidence of their shared past, and it is deepening ties between the two. I have started using mind control magic to ensure disputes are settled fairly, and under my legal system, the race of everyone involved in a civil or criminal suit is kept secret from the ones deciding punishment, every jury is made up of equal numbers of both races. This has kept arguments and grudge-driven violence down. The Quagoa are now integrated into dwarven society, and the dwarven numbers are growing… Many children are being born to runesmith families as a result of your incentives. They have only one complaint."

"Oh?" Ainz raised an eyebrow, it was still strange to bare his human face to all his subjects, and though it was a relief, a wave of shame washed over him once again, 'I should never have questioned the love of my precious children… never.' The hurt he did to Albedo was no doubt the largest, but it troubled him more than a little to think that he might have done the same to the others.

Demiurge seemed not to notice the thoughts hidden behind Ainz' eyes and went on, "Yes, My Lord. The runesmiths are so successful, that there… simply aren't enough dwarf women for the rest. They're complaining about the lack of available mates."

"Oh." Ainz felt a little blush rise to his cheeks and brought a hand up to rub his cheeks with thumb and forefinger to hide his embarrassment. "Ah… we won't curb the favor toward the runesmiths, but will limit them to one wife. However, reward each dwarf woman who marries, with a long term stipend that increases with each child. Their population was so decimated by the war with the quagoa that this will be necessary for at least a few generations. I suppose it isn't good for there to be only a small number reproducing anyway, even if they do have useful talents… is that all?"

"Yes, My Lord. Otherwise all is well." Demiurge said, and knelt down again.

"Sebas?" Ainz inquired.

The Butler of Steel rose to his feet and with a little half bow he said, "My Lord, the Beastman Kingdom has lost control over seven tenths of what they took from the Draconic Kingdom, they now have only two cities, and our teams have rescued almost all of their human stock. Hunger runs through their ranks and we have taken many beastman prisoners."

"Have they explained their invasion?" Ainz asked, and Sebas bowed his head again.

"Yes, My Lord. Famine. They produced too many of their own numbers and didn't have enough 'meat' to feed everyone. Starvation ran wild and their invasion was meant to stave it off." Sebas explained, "Now with victory near, the Draconic Queen has sent word that she offers her hand in marriage to secure My Lord's claim to her Kingdom."

Ainz didn't have to look up to his right to know that Albedo tensed just a little, but what she said was a surprise. "If it pleases My Lord, I will visit the Draconic Queen to make arrangements. In a few generations, per our Lord's plan, you will have a scion of your line on every throne. Powerful and loyal, your Empire will be a family business that our children will govern for you… just as you desire."

'When… just when did 'that' become the plan?!' He wondered, but more concerning was her statement about 'arrangements'. 'I've grown very fond of Draudillon, I learned so much about Kingship from watching her in crisis…' So he asked, "What arrangements do you intend?"

"Only to explain her place in the Allfather's world. I assume the arrangement with Draudillon should match that of Calca, putting your heir on the throne as a guarantee while you rule from here?" Albedo asked, and Ainz lowered his head as he wondered…

'How did this happen?!'

Albedo, however, took his lowered head to be a nod of acknowledgement. "I will visit her soon then, as Our Lord wills. Sebas, do you have more?"

"Nothing of consequence, My Lady." He said, and knelt again.

"Albedo, how are things in the Holy Kingdom?" Ainz asked, filing away her earlier words for later thought… and perhaps a little panic.

"My Lord, your son is healthy and the Queen continues her slow recovery, it hasn't stopped her from governing, in part thanks to Kelart and Gustav's assistance. Our doppelganger agents keep her court free of corruption, and most of what was destroyed has now been rebuilt. Trade is growing between them and Demalbion, and a surprisingly friendly correspondence takes place between the Holy Queen and the Queen of Frost."

"Oh yes… Demalbion…" Ainz nodded and thought back to the curious young dragonid that united the region.

Albedo took that to be a question, and chose to answer it, "The Queen of Frost has built roads that stretch all the way to the border with the Dark Elves, the Dark Dwarven mountains, and the Re-Estize Kingdom. Trade and travel are slowly beginning to flourish as a result. Our agents, however, have noted one oddity."

"An oddity?" Ainz asked.

"Yes, a member of the Black Scripture of the Slane Theocracy has been spotted coming and going over the border." Albedo frowned, "He doesn't seem to be doing anything. He just hunts, eats, and naps, he takes lots of those, then goes home again. From what we have been able to determine from investigating some of his favorite spots, he's been at it for years."

"That is… extremely strange." Ainz said and drummed the fingers of his right hand on the armrest of the Throne of Kings. "Keep an eye on it, but do nothing."

"As you will it, My Lord. Now about the Kingdom of Carne, the Wolf Queen and Wolf King have announced the royal pregnancy and the coming birth of their first child. The heir will be born in the spring of next year. The Alchemical genius leaves governing to his Queen and has announced several breakthroughs in his research into new healing potions and even the possibility of a new mana potion."

Ainz gasped, 'A mana potion! I've encountered none of those since coming here… if we monopolize something like that and keep it secret, our magic casters will have a potency we could only dream of… depending on how effective it is.' His mind raced and he answered immediately, "Support that effort above all else, the only rival priority will be morphomancy advancement for my own… situation."

"As My Lord wills it." Albedo said, "Now I believe Pandora's Actor has news about the Crimson Queen of Re-Estize?"

"Yes, mein Vater!" Pandora's Actor popped up to his feet and stretched his hand out in a grandiose gesture, one hand on his breast, the other raised toward the Throne of Kings, "Mein kleiner vampir is in love with Momon, such is her passion that she shocks even myself, and I know not what to do! She wishes to travel with me to Arwintar, I beg mein Vater's wisdom, as through her I am bound to the great adventurers of all these human nations!"

"Pandora's Actor… that is hardly news of Re-Estize…" Albedo gave him only mild reproach as she caught the tiny shake in his dramatically extended fingers, but Ainz put a hand out to cover Albedo's and shook his head.

"No, I am his father." Ainz said with finality, "I was that, before I was the Allfather."

The faceless doppelganger's hand on his heart closed into a tight fist at Ainz' words, and quietly held silent while the Lord of Nazarick considered what to say.

"A bond between you two would be good for my Kingdom, it would bind everybody who reveres her, and Momon, to the Kingdom they're part of, which will mean a bond to the Kingdom of Nazarick. However, I am a father before a King, and I don't want to bind my children to anyone that won't make them happy… do as you think best. If you like her, savor her. If you do not, then refuse her and remain professional. Only you can decide what is best, but remember… a Kingdom is a family business, and whatever comes of your union, I may have to use you both for the good of the whole."

"Mein Vater's wisdom is beyond price… I thank you. I will consider your words."

"Is there anything more?" Ainz asked.

"Yes, mein Vater. The Crimson Queen and her consort have conceived a child as well, also due in the coming spring. Knowing as I now do that there is a crop of royals rising up, might I suggest, mein Vater, that we establish a common school for such children, that they grow up together for part of every year of their youth? Thus they will be bonded tightly to you and to any offspring you produce, and to one another in turn?" Pandora's Actor made the suggestion as if it were nothing, but Ainz and Albedo traded a glance at one another.

The utility of such a project was too great to ignore as the power of Nazarick continued to spill outward over the surrounding nations, and if it took a few years to prepare, what of it?

"Yuri Alpha," Ainz said, and the maid rose to her feet, "You will select the ground and undertake the project, Mare will assist you with everything that you need. I want it built and ready to host the children of power within five years, including a full staff of trained maids and teachers in every conceivable subject."

"I would be pleased and privileged to bear this duty, Lord Ainz. Thank you." She said, and curtseyed with dainty perfection.

"Now… my… situation." Ainz finally said and turned his eye back to Demiurge.

"My Lord," Demiurge said and kept his head bowed where he knelt, "we have had limited success with our test subject. Remedios Custodio routinely ends her own life when we transform her, which is not a problem, we simply restrain her when we want to see how long it lasts. However, the only success we have in extended transformation is if it is done after death. A true race change for you… I fear we will need a world item in order to affect the outcome in the way we need."

"Then search for some." Ainz commanded, "Search the libraries of human nations and beyond to search for a morphomantic World Item in their legends and lore, and we will go from there."

"As my Lord commands." Demiurge answered and fell silent.

"Now… all that remains is the matter of Baharuth." Albedo pointed out, and all eyes, already focused on Ainz, became far more intent.

"Who will be our champion, My Lord?" Albedo asked as the silence stretched out.